Actualidad
By Paula Iudica
"The personal is political." With this motto, the women of the second wave of feminism of the 1960s told the world that what happens within a home is not something private, isolated, or particular, but responds to a certain social and political structure, a that historically has limited the freedom of women. There is no doubt that from that moment until now we have made progress. Nowadays, in theory (for practice, much is missing), no one considers gender violence as a "personal", "private" or "partner" problem and there has been awareness of the serious consequences in life of women and of their daughters and sons.
However, there are still matters that are considered private and in which we do not usually get involved, that we do not talk about, and although it is uncomfortable, it is time to do so. Economic and patrimonial violence is one of the many ways in which violence against women is exercised. Control and submission through money is very common. It is difficult to identify it, it is usually invisible, because many of these forms of abuse are naturalized in our society. That the man is the economic provider of the home, that the women abandon studies or work at the time of marrying or having children, that the woman earn less or work fewer hours ... Do these situations sound familiar to us? Surely yes.
In short, we are talking about the economic dependence of women. How to make decisions freely if we do not have economic autonomy?
The examples of this type of violence are infinite: That the man controls all the household income, that he administers the income of his partner, that he provides money in small amounts only for daily living expenses, that he asks for the vouchers to control shopping, making all financial decisions, that the woman should "ask permission" for certain expenses, that the goods are in his name only and that the woman does not know of their existence or how much money is handled at home ... No pay the food quota, not allow the woman to work outside the home, devalue the work that the woman does at home and consider that everything belongs to her for having generated the income, or threaten the woman with "taking everything away" if decides to separate.
Sometimes threats are not even necessary. The simple fact of knowing that he does not have his own resources, may be enough not to leave.
It is impossible not to mention the inequality in the labor market, the unequal distribution of domestic and care tasks (women on average dedicate 6.4 hours a day to this type of task, which in turn prevents them from dedicating these hours to training or more hours of work) and what is called the feminization of poverty: of every 10 people who suffer the greatest economic and social marginalization, 7 are women.
Economic violence reinforces asymmetric relationships and the submission of women who are economically dependent on men. In many cases, the women who suffer from it are also victims of other types of violence such as physical, psychological and / or sexual.
The lack of own resources or freedom to use them represents a huge obstacle when seeking help and moving away from the abuser, adding to the threats of being homeless and without money, most of the time with children and / or others dependents.
The patriarchal mandate of the "good wife" and the "good mother" responsible for preserving the family unit is one more element of the endless list of difficulties they find to get away from the situation of abuse they are going through.
What are the alternatives? The City of Buenos Aires has only 1 shelter for women victims of gender violence. It goes without saying that not all women have a family member or friend who can or wants to receive them and their children.
We are a few days away from the International Women's Strike, within the framework of the International Working Women's Day, and there are plenty of reasons to participate. Public policies to eradicate gender violence must take into account the economic sphere, it is our lives that are at stake, and they must be seen in a comprehensive way. It is necessary to continue questioning our present and getting involved in it to build an equal future. If it is not me, it is probably happening to a friend, relative, neighbor, partner, acquaintance, employee. We cannot look the other way.
Actualidad
By Paula Iudica
"The personal is political." With this motto, the women of the second wave of feminism of the 1960s told the world that what happens within a home is not something private, isolated, or particular, but responds to a certain social and political structure, a that historically has limited the freedom of women. There is no doubt that from that moment until now we have made progress. Nowadays, in theory (for practice, much is missing), no one considers gender violence as a "personal", "private" or "partner" problem and there has been awareness of the serious consequences in life of women and of their daughters and sons.
However, there are still matters that are considered private and in which we do not usually get involved, that we do not talk about, and although it is uncomfortable, it is time to do so. Economic and patrimonial violence is one of the many ways in which violence against women is exercised. Control and submission through money is very common. It is difficult to identify it, it is usually invisible, because many of these forms of abuse are naturalized in our society. That the man is the economic provider of the home, that the women abandon studies or work at the time of marrying or having children, that the woman earn less or work fewer hours ... Do these situations sound familiar to us? Surely yes.
In short, we are talking about the economic dependence of women. How to make decisions freely if we do not have economic autonomy?
The examples of this type of violence are infinite: That the man controls all the household income, that he administers the income of his partner, that he provides money in small amounts only for daily living expenses, that he asks for the vouchers to control shopping, making all financial decisions, that the woman should "ask permission" for certain expenses, that the goods are in his name only and that the woman does not know of their existence or how much money is handled at home ... No pay the food quota, not allow the woman to work outside the home, devalue the work that the woman does at home and consider that everything belongs to her for having generated the income, or threaten the woman with "taking everything away" if decides to separate.
Sometimes threats are not even necessary. The simple fact of knowing that he does not have his own resources, may be enough not to leave.
It is impossible not to mention the inequality in the labor market, the unequal distribution of domestic and care tasks (women on average dedicate 6.4 hours a day to this type of task, which in turn prevents them from dedicating these hours to training or more hours of work) and what is called the feminization of poverty: of every 10 people who suffer the greatest economic and social marginalization, 7 are women.
Economic violence reinforces asymmetric relationships and the submission of women who are economically dependent on men. In many cases, the women who suffer from it are also victims of other types of violence such as physical, psychological and / or sexual.
The lack of own resources or freedom to use them represents a huge obstacle when seeking help and moving away from the abuser, adding to the threats of being homeless and without money, most of the time with children and / or others dependents.
The patriarchal mandate of the "good wife" and the "good mother" responsible for preserving the family unit is one more element of the endless list of difficulties they find to get away from the situation of abuse they are going through.
What are the alternatives? The City of Buenos Aires has only 1 shelter for women victims of gender violence. It goes without saying that not all women have a family member or friend who can or wants to receive them and their children.
We are a few days away from the International Women's Strike, within the framework of the International Working Women's Day, and there are plenty of reasons to participate. Public policies to eradicate gender violence must take into account the economic sphere, it is our lives that are at stake, and they must be seen in a comprehensive way. It is necessary to continue questioning our present and getting involved in it to build an equal future. If it is not me, it is probably happening to a friend, relative, neighbor, partner, acquaintance, employee. We cannot look the other way.
PHONE NUMBER
(011) 4701 5890
+54 9 11 4940-7973
Monday from 13.00 to 19.00
from Tuesday to Thursday from 9.00 to 19.00 hs.
EMAIL
info@shalombait.org.ar
ADRESS
Bonpland 723, CABA, Argentina.
FACEBOOK
144 - THE WHOLE COUNTRY
Advice, guidance, information and support for women victims of violence.
137 - CITY OF BUENOS AIRES
Attention and orientation to victims of violence. It carries out home interventions with a mobile team in emergency situations and accompaniment in making complaints.
102 - CABA
Information and referrals in situations of mistreatment and sexual abuse of Girls, Boys and Adolescents.
OVD
Receive complaints of domestic violence 24 hours a day.
Address: Lavalle 1250.
PHONE NUMBER
(011) 4701 5890
+54 9 11 4940-7973
Monday from 13.00 to 19.00
from Tuesday to Thursday from 9.00 to 19.00 hs.
EMAIL
info@shalombait.org.ar
ADRESS
Bonpland 723, CABA, Argentina.
FACEBOOK
144 - THE WHOLE COUNTRY
Advice, guidance, information and support for women victims of violence.
137 - CITY OF BUENOS AIRES
Attention and orientation to victims of violence. It carries out home interventions with a mobile team in emergency situations and accompaniment in making complaints.
102 - CABA
Information and referrals in situations of mistreatment and sexual abuse of Girls, Boys and Adolescents.
OVD
Receive complaints of domestic violence 24 hours a day.
Address: Lavalle 1250.